Known electrical connectors are frequently employed in the field of high-voltage power transmission to interconnect cables or to finish cable ends. For example, mechanical and electrical interconnecting of two cable ends is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,201,914 by introducing the cable ends into a tubular, electrically conductive sheath and fixing them in the sheath using screws. The screws are each guided in a borehole which extends radially from the direction of the central axis of the sheath.
Covering such cable connections between electrical cables using electrically insulating elastic sleeves is also known. Alongside the impact protection and protection from the penetration of moisture, the insulative sleeve also controls the electrical field by shielding. Mounting such a sleeve in the region of the cable connector can consist of expanding a silicon rubber sheath using a spiral system and allowing the sleeve to shrink to its desired diameter by destroying or removing the spiral. Alternatively, it is also possible to use a warm-shrinking material instead of the spiral, as is described in WO 2014/095563 A1, for example. In another alternative, an elastic sheath can be mounted by pushing it in the longitudinal direction over the cable connector; in order to make this possible, a lubricant, for example silicone grease, must be applied in order to reduce the friction.
The latter mounting method is advantageous in that, on the one hand, no additional spiral is required and therefore waste is avoided, and on the other hand, no heat source is required. However, in order to be able to easily push an elastic sleeve over the electrical connector, it is essential that the cable connector has a sufficiently smooth outer surface. Even small projections, apertures or uneven areas can lead to an interruption of the lubricating film and disrupt the mounting process.
In order to avoid the smooth surface of the cable connector being interrupted by protruding screw heads, for example, screws with a predetermined breaking point may be used, the heads of which shear off when a defined torque is exceeded. In this manner, the surface of the cable connector no longer has any screw heads, but it does have open recesses into which the silicone grease penetrates, so that the lubricating film is interrupted.